Legal process on Kamal Nath role still unfolding: US

WASHINGTON: The United States States has said that it is closely following developments related to a civil suit filed against India's Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath.

Briefing newspersons here on Monday, Phillip Crowley, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs,said: "Well, we are following closely a civil complaint involving Minister Kamal Nath. There are - this is still a legal process that is unfolding".

"It's unclear whether there's any live action against Minister Nath and what its content might be. I think the plaintiffs have until February 9 to file an amended complaint," he added.

"The immunity question remains under review here at the State Department, and we have not made any determination at this point," Crowley said.

He also said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not involved in the issue as of now

It maybe recalled that Nath has been summoned by a New York court for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,and the Indian Government has reportedly approached the Obama administration to consider giving him diplomatic immunity.

New York's Southern district court has asked Nath to appear before it for a pre-trial conference on February 9, according to Gurpatwant S Pannun, Legal Advisor for Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based human rights advocacy group, which filed a civil suit against him last April.

At that time, the SFJ along with two individuals filed a law suit against Nath under Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) asking the Court to order compensatory and punitive damages against Nath.

The plaintiffs have asked for a "jury trial" and will have the right to call upon survivors and experts on genocide as witnesses to prove that systematic killing of Sikhs in November 1984 was genocide as defined in Article 2 of the UN Convention on Genocide.